Paul Collingwood's fielding drill during a nets session came in handy when he was named England's substitute fielder. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

You are not long retired from international cricket, it seems. Paul Collingwood, whose final match for England was in Chittagong three years ago, but who has a temporary secondment to the England team as assistant coach to Ashley Giles, was nominated as a substitute fielder for the first one-day international between England and West Indies in Antigua.

Collingwood was regarded as one of the great fielders during his time as an England player, and is still playing county cricket for Durham, who he captained to the County Championship last season.

If at first sight this might seem to be a case of England going back to the future, then it is more a case of expedience due to squad injuries.

ICC regulations stipulate that a team has to have nominated substitutes to a maximum of four, and England do have a 15-man squad. But neither Eoin Morgan, nor Alex Hales was deemed fit for this match, which meant a shortage of options.

Morgan has a jarred right knee, sustained during the warm-up match against the Vice-Chancellor's XI on Tuesday, while Hales, currently the world's No1-ranked T20 batsman, has a hamstring strain. With the ICC World T20 impending, their omission is thought to have been precautionary.

England also nominated Steven Parry, Jade Dernbach and Harry Gurney and it was thought likely that one of these would be the first choice. Should Collingwood take the field it would be in a blank England shirt, in fact a replica borrowed from an England supporter.

More ICC regulations stipulate that no player can wear a shirt with another's name on it and England do not carry blank spares.

It is a sensible regulation, though: obviously the names and numbers are for identification purposes and to wear a shirt bearing the name of an injured player, or indeed one already on the field, would not be helpful.